Rt. Hon. Chima Obieze; a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (the PDP) and three term member of the Enugu State House of Assembly, has urged the leadership of the PDP to shun impunity and show respect for the Rule of Law.
In his words “The PDP must refuse to tolerate and accept actions that ultimately result in unending litigation and incessant abuse of court processes.. The party must as a matter of urgency, comply with the Order of Enugu State High Court in Suit E/882/2023 directing the recognition of Hon. S. K. E Udeh Okoye as the National Secretary of the People’s Democratic Party.
“The party must also disregard persons and officers involved in procuring the conflicting Court Orders from Federal High Court Per Hon. Justice Inyang Ekwo, while the Judgement Order of the Enugu State High Court remains valid, subsisting and undischarged by any known legal process.
“My attention, with that of other PDP patriots and every lover of democracy in Nigeria have been drawn to the recent happenings in the party. Especially the procurement of a conflicting order from the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja over a matter which has been succinctly dealt with and judgment given with finality by the High Court of Enugu State.
Recall that the High Court of Enugu State sitting in its capacity as a superior court of record, had on the 28th day of December, 2023 delivered judgement in the matter in Suit E/882/2023 involving Aniagu Emmanuel v. Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) & 3 Ors, wherein an Order was made directing the defendants to immediately recognize Hon. S.K.E Udeh Okoye as the National Secretary of the People’s Democratic Party.
Obieze stressed that: “The Order of the High Court of Enugu State is subsisting and unchallenged nor set aside by the Court of Appeal and should be complied with. Rather than obey this Order of court of competent jurisdiction, a conflicting court order favoring Sen. Anyanwu was subsequently sought and obtained by Geoffrey Ihentuga & Anor in clear violation of the rule of law and complete disregard and abuse of every known court process. Bringing to fore the same issue of abuse and use of judicial mechanism to obtain frivolous and conflicting orders which bring the judiciary to disrepute and embarrassment.
“I am therefore calling on the leadership of the party at all levels, to immediately obey the Order of the Enugu State High Court of 28th December, 2023 and recognize Hon. S.K.E Udeh Okoye as the National Secreatry of the party. To even think of doing otherwise will bereft the law of all its utility and throw our party into a state of uncertainty by reason of conflicting decisions. It is indeed my position that if a conflict is found between judgements of courts of coordinate or concurrent jurisdiction, the way to resolve it is to ask the question “which judgement came first?”
“Our political system and party is not witnessing these kinds of abuse of the judicial process for the first time. In 2018, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, lamented the trend of abuse of court processes and procurement of frivolous conflicting orders and pleaded for the intervention of the then Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen. The INEC boss was quoted at the time to have said that on a matter involving the leadership of a political party, the Commission was served with six conflicting judgments and orders from courts of coordinate jurisdiction within a period of three months (May–July 2016) and that the Commission was confronted by conflicting pronouncements by the lower courts on matters already decided by the superior courts, including the Supreme Court.
“This issue of judicial abuse had led to confusion in the past and the National Judicial Council has warned severally about these kinds of abuse. Today, our party is presented with another opportunity to put a stop and refuse the procurement of conflicting orders during the lifetime and subsistence of a valid Order of the court.
“The Party ought to comply with the Judgement of the Enugu State High Court mandating the recognition of Hon. S.K.E Udeh Okoye as the acting National Secretary of the Party because that is indeed where the justice of the case lies and being the first, valid and final court hearing on the matter. Those who were involved in the procurement of the conflicting Order from the Federal High Court sitting at Abuja should be immediately made to answer to the National Judicial Council for disciplinary actions for abusing the instrumentality of our most hallowed judicial process.
“The character of always seeking for and obtaining contradicting court Orders without regards to existing rule of law and no respect at all for our judiciary must be succinctly dealt with at all level. The party must now play a role to nip this issue at the bud to avoid taking us back to our dark days. The then NBA President, Mr Olumide Akpata in a statement had criticized these practice of always seeking and obtaining frivolous Court orders when he said: ‘While the Nigerian judiciary has in the past made invaluable contributions to the development of the country, there are nevertheless past failings which would hopefully remain permanently interred in the dark annals of history. It is in this regard that we view with concern the recurring contradictory decisions by our courts, based on apparently indiscriminate grant of orders and counter-orders, in a way that evokes memories of those eerie and unwanted dark days.’
“The act of nation building is a collective one; all relevant stakeholders in the administration of justice system have critical roles to play. The judiciary is a sacred institution and should not be allowed to become a tool in the hands of desperate politicians who only seek to serve their personal ambition, with the aid of an unscrupulous few members of the Bar. The Party must and should insist that the Judgement of the Enugu State High Court is complied with.
“The law should be fair and the procedures to apply the law must work efficiently and inexpensively. An abuse of a well-established court process cannot be allowed to stand in the party. In this case just like in Adegbanke v. Ojelabi & Ors (2021) LPELR 54992 (SC), The Supreme Court had held that there is said to be an abuse of the process of court when a party improperly uses the issue of judicial process to the irritation and annoyance of his opponent, such as instituting a multiplicity of actions on the same subject matter against the same opponent over the same issue. The matter held before a Federal High Court in Abuja is an abuse of process of court.
“Where there is an inherent right to institute an action, a multiplicity of actions on the same issue, subsequent actions (not the first one) will usually be deemed an abuse of Court process. The abuse lies in the multiplicity and manner of the exercise of the right, rather than the exercise of the right. In the same manner, the judgement of the Enugu State High Court on this issue had resolved all the questions surrounding the office of the National Secretary of the People’s Democratic Party, and the party has a standing obligation to obey the Court’s direction that Hon. S.K.E Udeh Okoye be recognized as the National Secretary. To initiate another proceeding in a court of coordinate jurisdiction is nothing but an abuse of court process and any Order emanating therein is not worth the cost of the piece of paper on which it was printed.”
